


The First Visit

by IAmAwesomeMe



Series: DinLuke slow burn but I also have an actual plot [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: First fic for this fandom, M/M, Slow Burn, THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED, part of a series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:21:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28919013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmAwesomeMe/pseuds/IAmAwesomeMe
Summary: Din Djarin visits his son Grogu at Luke Skywalker's training camp for the first time. He intends to merely see his son and make sure that the camp is secure enough, but while he is there he becomes better acquainted with the instructor as well.
Relationships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker
Series: DinLuke slow burn but I also have an actual plot [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2121021
Comments: 15
Kudos: 220





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if the transitions from one chapter to the next are a little choppy. I wrote it all down as one long fic and then subdivided it into chapters.

Din almost shook with excitement. He was on his way to see his child once more. After saying goodbye to him on that bridge three months prior he traveled some more, picking up some local bounties till he could acquire a new ship. After two months of solid work, he had saved up enough. It was a tiny ship, just big enough for himself so he would still only be able to do local bounties till he could save up enough for a bigger one that could actually take a carbonite chamber on it and make inter-planetary boundaries easier but for now this was enough. He intended to get another pre-empire razor crest and those were pretty cheap but it would still take another few months.

The first thing he did with his new ship was notify Skywalker to try and arrange a time to see Grogu and also tour the training facilities. The young Jedi informed him that, in three weeks time, some parents were taking their kids home to celebrate New Republic Day with their family and that the island will be mostly empty. So now Din was on his way to the coordinates that he had been given.

Though he tried his best to remain calm he most certainly was not. He had been missing Grogu since the day he had left his side. Being away from him was like having his heart beat outside his chest. He couldn’t wait till he could see him again. Hold him again. Look after him again.

Then there was also the matter of Grogu’s new master, the young Skywalker. Boba Fett had told Din a little about their time together, but Din wasn't sure how much of that was true. He wanted to make sure that Grogu was being taken care of properly.

Din arrived at the planet, and stopped at a medium sized town outside the academy. He got some cookies to bring Grogu and refueled his ship so that, if needed, he could make a quick exit from the academy without having to stop. While the ship was being refueled he talked with some of the locals. Apparently they knew all about the academy. Din immediately thought of that as a security flaw. He knew the Jedi have enemies and the fact that the locals knew not only of the existence to the jade academy but could also identify some students by name (not Grogu, thankfully) and are perfectly willing to tell any stranger that happen to walk in did not sit well with him. He began to question the competence of Master Skywalker.

Some more conversation helped sooth some of these worries. Apparently, they knew that it’s existed but no one knew exactly where. They couldn’t give any enemy of the Jedi an exact location. The kids that visited the village are all older since Skywalker didn’t let the younger ones off the island until they can learn some more self defense. Skywalker had wanted them to have some semblance of a childhood and not have their entire lives only about training, apparently, so he let them have some freedom. It was a sentiment Din could understand. And the only reason they were telling all this to Din is because Skywalker had told them that he was coming. He said that a Mandalorian with shining beskar armor with a mudhorn signet on it to visit his child and instructed the villagers to treat him with kindness and welcome him. They certainly wouldn’t have been this open with just any stranger who happened to walk in.

His worries soothed (for now) Din got in his ship and traveled to the coordinates. Tilting his ship so he could circle around a bit, Din could see the rough layout. For whatever reason, he had been picturing a tall, imposing building. Something that almost looked like a prison that was re-furnished to be a school. Instead, it was more like a small gathering of tents clustered around some small clearings in the middle of the woods. There were really small one person tents, clearly for sleeping, some larger ones for teaching, one with a stone wall attached to it, an open-air pavilion, and some other areas that Din couldn’t see from the sky. He also couldn’t see a place to land. The trees didn't give him a clear landing spot and all of the clearings were filled with tents and buildings. 

Just then, he received a call. It was from Skywalker. He answered it.

“I see you circling above us. There is nowhere to land near the actual academy, but if you look just north there’s a clearing on a small hill.”

Din turned his eyes to the north. “I see it.”

“You can keep your ship up there. I will get Grogu and we will meet you up there.”

“Rodger.” Din turned his ship towards the indicted spot.

Luke hung up the call and left his tent. He looked up to the ship above him where Grogu’s dad started his decent to the north. Putting his radio back in his tent, he went to visit the campfire where Grogu had been waiting patiently for his dad ever since he first sensed his presence when he first landed at the village. “C’mon Grogu, let’s go greet your dad.”

Grogu practically flew out of his seat and began running as fast as he could towards the landing area, a speed which just about matched Luke’s brisk walk. After a few seconds, though, the young child was fully out of breath. That didn’t stop him from trying his best to keep up.

“Let me,” Luke said, picking up his young apprentice and carrying him under his arm.

“Thank you,” Grogu smiled up at Luke. Not speaking exactly but putting the words he wanted to say into Luke’s mind. The two of them had developed a way of communicating that involved a lot of force communication.

From what Luke could tell, Grogu was from the same species as his old master, Yoda. His species seemed to communicate only through force, no speech at all. They would send feelings, colors, images or even songs and pieces of music into the other person’s mind. This means that if you want to explain someone a complicated subject it could be done in just a few seconds. And it didn’t matter your eloquence, since you are showing people your thoughts. People rarely actually think in words, they think in thought and translate that into words, though sometimes their true meaning may be lost in translation. Not so with Grogu. You knew exactly what he meant, though if you then tried to explain that thought to someone else you would encounter the same trouble you have explaining your own thoughts.

That thank you, for example. Grogu didn’t actually say thank you. He projected a rosy pink feeling of thankfulness into Luke’s mind with Luke understood to mean thank you. Luke wondered if Din would have been able to see and feel what he saw and felt. Communicating through force meant that if you weren’t force sensitive than you had a hard time communicating. That’s why Grogu’s kind was so withdrew, because very few people force sensitive enough to understand what they were saying upon first meeting. Some would learn the language everyone else was speaking, but most wouldn’t. Their method of communicating was much easier and more efficient, after all.

Occasionally, Luke wondered where the rest of Grogu’s kind were. He asked the child but if there was a colony of Yodas somewhere out there, Grogu was separated from them when he would have been just a year or two old. Grogu’s first memories were of the Jedi Temple. And he didn’t care to look back through his earlier memories. As far as he was concerned, his only family was his dad and he was happy like that. Though curiosity tickled Luke, he learned to ignore it.

Speaking of Din, Luke and Grogu were coming up to the landing platform. Luke was excited to see the handsome Mandalorian too, though not nearly as excited as Grogu who was practically vibrating with anticipation.

Din managed to land his ship to the left of an x-wing that looked very familiar. He looked though his front dashboard and saw his son and his jedi master coming into the clearing. He quickly ran through the steps to park and opened up the top.

“Grogu!” he shouted, standing on his seat and jumping onto the ground. He ran toward his son as his son flew straight into his outstretched arms. Grogu had flown with such force, it knocked his father down onto his knees, and Din gave Grogu the biggest hug he could. He wanted to wrap his son up in his arms and never let go. And Grogu was so happy be home with his dad, he never wanted his dad to leave ever again.

Luke watched the reunion from afar, noting the way Grogu’s ears vibrated the way they did when ever he was given to much sugar. He noticed the way Din’s hands caressed his child’s head gently. Din had a great affection for his child, and it was as evident on the day of their reunion as it was the day of their separation. He also noted that Din seemed to still have his Mandolorian helmet on. Not that that surprised Luke. Grogu had told him that he had only seen Din without his helmet one time, and that was only because he was saying goodbye and didn’t know when they would see each other again. It was a very special circumstance, and Luke understood that. He had not expected to see Din’s face again, even though he wished for it.

Sensing a lull in the reunion, Luke stepped forward to reintroduce himself. “It’s nice to see you again, Mandolorian. Grogu has told me much about you.” Luke extended his hand to help Din to his feet, which Din took with a little apprehension.

“You’re taking good care of him?” Din was always suspicious of everyone he meets. Either they are bad and your right or they are good and you are pleasantly surprised. The Jedi are no exception.

“Of course,” Luke assured him. “He is being kept in good health and good spirits. We are about to sit down to eat supper, but I would love to give you a tour of the grounds before that and tell you all about how his studies are coming along.”

The three walked back to camp mostly in silence. Luke walked ahead, giving Din and Grogu time to reacquaint.


	2. Chapter 2

“A very quick tour,” Luke said as they cam upon the first few tents. “This is the library,” he motioned to a building on his left. It was stout and square. “It’s where we keep and study the sacred Jedi texts. To our right is the armoury.” The building to which he motioned was slightly larger than the library. From what Din could see There was a stone wall with a furnace against the back and worktables with drawers full of supplies and tools around it.

“This school has an armoury?” Din wondered aloud.

“I train the students in not only the spiritual and intellectual side of the Jedi way but the Jedi fighting styles as well. All of my students will learn how to correctly build and wield a lightsaber. Oh, not yet for students as young as Grogu, though.”

“Right.” The talk of lightsabers cause Din's back pocket to feel heavy under the weight of the darksaber.

“To the right we have our sleeping cabins,” Luke motioned to a small path leading off the main one, around which about two dozen or so tents had been set up. Some lined the path, most were scattered around the small clearings on either side. After the small tents, the path continued to for a little bit farther before stopping at the edge of the woods. A larger tent was erected there. “My tent is just at the end of the path,” Luke explained. “Grogu’s is just there.” He motioned to a tent that was a fair bit smaller than the rest (understandable, Grogu’s a fair bit smaller) just to the right, near the library. “This is our campfire,” Luke said, continuing with the tour. “It is also our teaching circle during the day.” The campfire was in a fairly large clearing the opposite side of the road than the sleeping tents. It was a collection of fallen tree trunks, stumps and rocks that were arranged around a central collection of stones that had a low fire in them. “Finally, we have our last two building.” They had some to the end of the main path. “This is the cooking tent,” Luke motioned to his left. “And this is the pavilion.” Luke motioned to his right. The pavilion was really an open-air pavilion. It had four strong pillars made of tree trunks supporting the roof. The ground was well packed dirt. There were a few tables set up, the kind with benches attached to them. About a half dozen kids were already waiting at one of the tables. “These are some of Grogu’s classmates. Grogu, why don’t you join them as your father helps me bring over the food.”

Din set Grogu down and watched as the other kids welcomed him to their table. Then they caught sight of Din and began whispering amongst themselves.

“You’ll have to excuse them,” Luke said to Din as they went over to the cooking tent. “Most didn’t believe Grogu when he said he had a Mandalorian for a father. And the few that did mostly wondered if your helmet had special modifications for your ears.” Luke smiled at the joke.

“Ears?” Din wondered aloud. Then remembered who his son is. “Right, ears.”

“They may ask you a few questions, I hope that’s alright. Here, grab those bowls.”

Din grabbed the bowls in question as well as the spoons and went to follow Luke, who had a pot of stew, back to the pavilion but Luke hesitated at the door of the tent. “Am I correct in believing you won’t take off your helmet to eat with us?”

“You are.” Din didn’t know where Luke was going with this.

“I see. Would you rather take your meal and eat here? It has a door so no one will be able to see.”

Din breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m not too hungry right now, but tomorrow I will. Is it ok if Grogu eats in here with me?”

Luke seemed to hesitate on this. “I like to try and encourage camaraderie amongst the students at meal times but since most of the students are gone anyway, I suppose there’s no harm. We will have to ask him of course.”

“Of course.”

The two left the cooking tent and brought the students their meals. Din helped Luke serve it out to all the students. They had a practice where Luke would give the bowl to the student on his immediate right which would then be passed around the entire table till it got back to his immediate left where it would stay. The next bowl was then passed all the way around again till it stopped at the person two to the left of Luke. Din had always had communal meals as a sort off everyone for themselves deal. There was a large plate of food dropped in the middle of a round table, enough for hypothetically everyone on the table, but you had to fight the other people on you table to get to it. The strongest would get the largest serving, the weakest would get the smallest. But the strongest wouldn’t take it all. The Mandolorians are only as strong as their weakest member so you needed to support you fellows enough for them to survive and get stronger but not strong enough to overtake you. Every once in a while, they would barely give you any food at all. On those occasions it’s customary for the strong to refuse to take any food, saying that there are others at the table who need it more. It helped get you used to skipping meals if for whatever reason you couldn’t find the solitude you needed to eat.

Just like Din was doing now. He used the excuse of needing to check on some things on his ship to go back and eat half a portion. He was often told that when you are meeting someone for the first time to miss a meal in order to establish your strength. The ability to abstain from food is important to a Mandalorian. He didn’t know if any of this was true but he did it anyway. Ever since Bo-Katan told him about the Children of the Watch he had been questioning the way he was raised. Still, he wasn't fully ready to give up all the teachings. He ate a half portion back on his ship and secured it for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

He walked back to camp and found everyone gathered around a campfire. It was night now and the fire had been built up again so it was fairly big. Grogu was sandwiched between an older girl with bright white hair that looked to be around 10 or so and a younger boy with blue skin that seemed to be around 7 or so. Both seemed to be amicable with Grogu.

“Those two are particularly close,” Luke said, appearing at Din’s left-hand side. They were standding at the entrance to the campfire circle, but not quite a part of it yet. “Both with each other and with Grogu. They are a pair of orphans I found on an outer rim planet. They weren’t actually brother and sister but they grew up together and had never known any other family. They took in young Grogu and showed him the ropes when he first arrived.”

“They were both Jedis?” Din asked. “Is it common to have two Jedi's in one place?”

“Not exactly. A Jedi is more like a rank or title. They are both force sensitive, meaning they both have the capacity to become Jedi.” Luke’s face became very serious. “And as for your other question, force sensitive people tend to find other force sensitive people. That is actually one of the reasons why I wanted you to come here.”

Din’s senses were on high alert. He thought back to his ship, then trying to calculate how long it would take to grab Grogu and leave. His darksaber was on his belt but Luke’s greensaber was with him as well and he was probably better at dueling than Din was. Instead, Din’s hand went his pistol. Not drawing it, just close to it.

Luke noticed Din tensing up. He must have said something wrong, something he didn’t mean. This is exactly why Grogu’s kind never spoke if they could avoid it. “What I mean is, it is very rare to have a force sensitive Mandalorian. But it is also rare for a being as powerful as Grogu to trust someone as intrinsically as Grogu trusts you without them being even a little force sensitive.”

“There was nothing intrinsic about Grogu trusting me,” Din explained, the hand at his pistol relaxing but not leaving. “The very first moment we met, I killed a robot that was going to kill him. Then he saved my from a mudhorn.” Luke noted the signet on Din’s armor. “He trusts me because he knows he’s safe with me, no other reason. I’m not what you think I am.”

“I see,” Luke nodded. “My mistake.” They turned their attention back to the fire. Din took his hand off his pistol, relaxing again, though Luke doubted that he ever truly relaxed. But Luke also wasn’t done with his theory.

He sent Din a force message, the kind that Grogu communicates with. This message was simple, just pink. If he really wasn’t force sensitive, as he claimed, then he shouldn’t be able to see this. If he did, well then maybe there was some merit to Luke’s theory.

“Dammit,” Din said, tapping the side of his helmet.

“You ok?” Luke asked.

“I’m fine, my screen just went a bit off.”

Luke held in his contented smile. “Do you need to use the armoury to check up on it?”

“No, it’s fine now.” Din answered. “The display just shifted a bit for a second.”

“Right, well, how about we tell some stories.” Now convinced of Din’s force sensitivity, Luke turned his attention back to his students. Din took a seat close to the exit and Luke walked around the campfire to take a seat with the rest of his students. He began telling the story of some old Jedi master who was able to harness the power of fire as Grogu left his two friends and walked over to his father. Din picked him up and put him on the seat next to him but Grogu insisted on crawling up onto his father’s lap. They listened as Luke talked about how this Jedi had given fire to a planet that hadn’t seen that before. Their days once filled with darkness and cold now filled with light and heat.

Luke then started to tell the story of another old master who used fire to visit a village that was oppressed by a cruel dictator. The dictator owned the lumber in the entire surrounding area. He was the mayor, technically, and lived in the only stone house in the entire town. Everyone else lived in wood and hay houses. If a citizen was disobeying him or growing wealth beyond what the dictator thought was good, he would set their house on fire and the citizen would have to buy the materials to build the new house from the Mayor so either they went into his debt or lived on the street. The Jedi was able to summon a fire to powerful that it melted the stones the mayor used to rule over his citizens.

“This is the path of the Jedi,” Luke explained. “We must bring prosperity to those who need it and destruction to those who deserve. Be a force for good, by doing good and stopping those who wish to do harm.” A student raised her hand. “Yes, Sani.”

“Well, how do you know whether what you are doing is going to be for good or for bad?” Sani was the oldest of the pupils, and looked to be about 14.

Luke nodded. “That’s a very good question, Sani. It’s the question at the center of many Jedi texts. I believe that as long as your actions put more good into the world than bad, you have done good. That means that the most important tool a Jedi can have is foresight, and that can only be gained through experience.”

Another student, about 10 or so, raised their hand again, but quickly lowered it.

“Wen-rhy, do you have a question?” Luke prompted.

“Umm, I do,” Weh-rhy spoke shyly, “but I’m not sure I should ask it.”

“You should always ask questions, for that is how you learn. Please, ask away.”

“I guess.” The child turned to face Din. “What do Mandalorians think about right and wrong?”

Din didn’t know how to answer. Everyone turned to face him, even Grogu looked up. Luke hesitated to intervene, curious about the answer the Mandalorian would give as well.

“I’m not sure you want what I have to say,” Din eventually replied.

“Master Skywalker said that you should always seek as much knowledge as you can and that no source should be ignored,” Sani replied.

“Grogu’s father doesn’t need to answer if he doesn’t feel comfortable,” Luke told her.

Din was grateful for the opportunity to not have to say anything more on the subject, but then he looked down at his son. Grogu was looking up at him with such keen interest, Din couldn’t just stay silent.

“Truth is, if you asked a hundred different Mandalorians they would give you a hundred different answers. Mandalorian education focuses on survival, not philosophy, so each person comes up with their own moral code, their own list of things they can or can’t do for any reason. As for me,” he recalled what an old friend had told him once which ringed true in that moment, “as long as you can sleep well at night you’re doing better than most people out there.”

Luke nodded with understanding.

“That’s stupid,” Sani said. Grogu’s ears went red with outrage as Din made a mental note never to join the campfire again.

“Why’s that?” Luke asked, holding out a hand to calm Grogu and, somewhat, comfort Din.

“Just do the right thing,” she responded. “It’s not that complicated.”

Luke nodded. “Often, though, there isn’t a clear right thing to do. Sometimes there isn’t a right thing to do at all. Sometimes you are stuck between two bad options. You have to pick one of the two, even if both are bad. In those circumstances, you need to do just as he said, pick one and learn to forgive yourself enough to sleep at night.” The campers nodded. It was clear Sani still had more objections, but Luke still wasn’t though with her. “And Sani, we never call someone stupid for giving knowledge which we asked for. Apologize to our guest.”

Sani’s ears went bright pink. “I’m sorry Mr. Grogu’s dad.”

Din nodded, then noticed the look Luke was giving him. “Apology accepted.”

“Well, it’s getting late,” Luke prompted, standing up. “Everyone gets up early tomorrow for their meditations.” All the students got up and started going back to their own tents as Luke put out the fire with some nearby water.

Grogu indicted that he wanted to be let down. He then started to walk out with the rest of the students, leading Din back towards his tent.

“Grogu, would you and your father mind holding back one second?” Luke asked, as he finished putting out the fire and the rest of the students trickled out. “Where are you planning on sleeping?” Luke addressed Din.

“In Grogu’s tent,” Din replied.

“I’m afraid that’s not allowed,” Luke explained. “The tents are created to be safe, personal spaces. No one but the student they belong to are allowed in them, not even me.”

Din felt a tugging at his right shin pad. Grogu looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Sorry, kid. I’m just not allowed.”

“You will still stay nearby,” Luke reminded them both. “Either at your ship or there’s room in my tent if you want to stay there.”

“Isn’t your tent your space?” Din asked.

“No, my tent if free for anyone to come visit me in any time of the day if they need help or have a question.”

“Well, I think I’ll stay up at my ship, if that’s alright.” Din didn’t want to intrude.

“Perfectly. Be careful on the path back to your ship, though, it’s ralg’or migration season. I’ll leave you to say goodbye. Goodnight.” He left them and went back to his tent.

Din turned back to Grogu. “It’s been quite a day, buddy.” Grogu looked at him in agreement. Din bent down, picking up his kid and starting the walk back to Grogu’s tent. “I missed you when I was away. Everyday. Even kept your little knob in my back pocket.” He fished it out now and Grogu’s face lit up when he saw it. “Here, keep it.” He handed it over. “You can keep it in your tent to remember me by.” They had arrived, and Din’s heart felt heavy. Not as heavy as it had when he said goodbye to Grogu on the bridge, but still. He had just found his son again now they are parting ways again. Even if it’s only for a short time it still felt cruel. “I’ll miss you, kid.” Din pressed his forehead against Grogu’s, a sign of great affection for Mandalorians. “Goodnight.”

Grogu went inside his tent, and Din walked back to his ship alone. He had heard of ralg’ors. They come up to about waist height when they walk on all fours and are fiercely territorial. They are especially volatile when they are migrating south for matting season since you don’t know exactly where their territory is and it changes every day. If you are with a group or have a large camp set up the way the Jedi academy is set up, they won’t bother you because they know that’s your territory but if you are walking alone like Din is, they are liable to attack. Their claws are sharp enough to kill most creatures with a single swipe but not sharp enough to cut through beskar. And besides that, they only travel at night since they are extremely scared of the light and Din had a flamethrower on his wrist powerful enough to send them running. Din was not overly worried about this particular foe. He made his way back to the ship without issue.

Luke had changed into his sleeping robe, basically a more loose-fitting version of his normal robe, and light a lamp so he could comb through some ancient texts. He liked to take this time at night for himself, without anyone who needed. Tonight, he was interested in brushing up on his history. He selected the book on the history of Mandalorian-Jedi conflicts and brought it to his desk to parous through it. The bed was against the back wall and pushed to the center so it was the first thing you saw when you came in. To the right was a bookshelf and area for him to change in. To the left was the desk at which he now sat. His desk had a radio and holo-message stationed if he needed to contact anyone and an emergency beacon that linked directly to every pilot and every planet in the new republic. Han had installed it when Ben came to Luke’s school.

After a while, though, sleep overcame Luke. He made his way back to his bed and did one final check of everyone at the camp. He felt through the force to see that everyone was sleeping and sleeping well. Sure enough, sweet dreams from everyone around the camp, but Luke felt a dark presence from nearby. The Mandalorian, he reasoned, wasn’t sleeping and wasn’t having a pleasant night. Luke considered going to sleep anyway, but didn’t. He had always made sure that everyone was asleep before him every night previously, tonight should be no different. Din was probably just having trouble getting comfortable in his ship’s cockpit. Luke remembered how uncomfortable it was whenever he had to sleep in his x-wing and Din’s ship wasn’t much bigger than that. He would fall asleep soon, then Luke could send some sweet dreams his way and settle into his own sleep. Satisfied with his plan, Luke brought the Mandalorian book to his bed and continued to read it as he waited for Din.

Back in the landing area, Din was having a hard time falling asleep. Yes, his bed wasn’t very comfortable. But that wasn’t the whole issue. He had been away from his son for so long. Logically, he knew that he would see his son tomorrow. But he had spent so long away from his kid, this remaining distance just felt like salt in a wound. It was strange, considering that he had just saw Grogu, but in the months since they had parted ways, he never had missed the kid so much or felt so alone as he did in this moment.

In his tent, Luke sensed Din’s presence again. Still awake, and still in immense discomfort.

Din turned back and forth. He couldn’t get his mind to settle. He couldn’t get his body to settle. Mandalorians are meant to take sleep whenever they can, and usually Din could fall asleep whenever he wanted. But now, he simply couldn’t. He needed to… do something. Actually, he knows what he needed to do.

Luke cast his mind again to Din’s ship and, to his surprise, found no discomfort. Actually, he found no one on the landing platform asleep, or otherwise. Luke looked around the camp and felt a familiar disgruntled spirit just outside Grogu’s tent. Luke put on a robe and went out. It was really dark so he brought with him a light. He found Din just outside Grogu’s tent. His back was leaning on the armory’s stone wall. His arms were crossed and his legs were stretched out before him.

“Din?” Luke said, cutting though the silence of the night.

“Umm, yeah?” he responded, unsure of himself.

Luke suddenly wondered if he had crossed a line. “Well, that’s what Grogu said your name was. Was he mistaken? Should I not have-?”

“No, that’s my name,” Din confirmed.

They stayed there in silence a moment.

“Mr. Skywalker?” Din asked. “I don’t want to be rude but why are you here?”

“I felt a difference in the camp,” Luke said. “Something not as it was previously.”

“Felt?”

“Through the Force.”

“Ahh.” Din didn’t know much about the force.

“Well, I just came to check on it,” Luke explained. “Are you going to stay there the entire night?”

“I was planning on it,” Din answered. “Am I not allowed to?”

“No, you are allowed to but it can’t be all that comfortable.”

Din shrugged. “It’s fine. I’ve slept in rougher conditions than this.”

“But you don’t need to. My tent is right over there, you’d still be near your child.”

“I’m fine.”

Luke had a feeling that if a Mandalorian made up their mind to do a certain thing, there was no convincing them otherwise. Perhaps it was the stories he had just been reading, perhaps it was the evidence in front of his own eyes, but Luke decided not to push the issue any further. “Very well, just know that you are welcome to come in any time.”

“Thank you,” Din answered.

“Goodnight,” Luke said as he turned to leave.

“Goodnight,” Din replied.

Luke returned to his tent and got ready for bed. Before he truly fell asleep, he reached out to Din’s spirit once me. He was sleeping, and much calmer then before though not what he would consider calm. Luke sent some pleasant dreams his way and went to bed himself.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Luke woke up at just before dawn. He changed into a fresh robe and went out to greet the morning. He liked this time of the morning, before the sun has fully risen but not night either. The world was gray and had an unusual stillness to it. To his surprise, he noted that Din was already awake. Unsure of what to do, the Mandalorian was sitting by the fire. He was organizing the wood pile, unsure if he should rekindle the fire or not.

“Good morning, Din,” Luke said, now more comfortable with the name.

“Right. Good morning, Mr. Skywalker.”

“Call me Luke,” the Jedi prompted. “Why don’t you relight the fire while I wake the children.”

Din swept aside the ashes and began building a cone of sticks around a small bit of fire starter on a piece of dry bark. Luke began walking to each tent and waking them each in turn. It didn’t take that long since there were only a few kids. Soon, everyone had gathered around the campfire and was watching Din build.

“I think the matches are in the cooking hut,” Luke remembered.

“No need,” Din replied, checking to make sure there were no kids in the way. He lit the flamethrower on his wrist and blasted it at the fire for a few seconds. All the kids that still had sleep in their eyes were suddenly wide awake by the time he turned it off to reveal a roaring fire.

“Cool,” one kid reacted and Din couldn’t help but smile under his helmet. He liked the idea that Grogu’s classmates thought of him nicely.

“Alright student,” Luke got their attention. “I want everyone up on the morning ridge.”

“Do you want me to join you?” Din asked.

Luke explained that they would just be meditating and that it might be boring for Din to just watch them. He suggested that instead Din should wait here and prepare breakfast. Din agreed, and watched them all leave to the south of camp with Grogu being carried by the older of the two children he was with last night.

Din prepared the morning porridge and ate his portion when they were all away meditating. When they came back they ate then got dressed and prepared to start the day. Luke gave them all assignment over breakfast of areas where they could improve. He didn’t want to teach a proper lesson because he didn’t want the students who weren’t here to miss out. Instead he worked with kids individually over the course of the day. This also gave Din a chance to meet all the different kids.

First there were Kan-Tion and Kan-Tig. Tion and Tig, the siblings that were looking after Grogu. Tion was the older sister, who was 13 years old but looked younger because she was fairly short for a 13-year-old. Her bright white hair positively shone in the sunlight. Tig was her younger brother, 7 years old. He didn’t speak much. Apparently, he had been abandoned at three years old and was raised primarily by Tion since then. Ton spoke a lot so Tig never really needed to talk. Tig herself was an orphan too, and together they chose to create their own family. Their family literally means “new” in their home language, since it is their new family. They were supposed to practice their levitation together and were passing a rock back and forth using only the force. They still had a lot of work to do and could only get a relay of 6 or 7 before one of them dropped it.

Then there was Wen-rhy. Just 10 year old, they were from a system very far away and their parents were farmers. They were planning on coming to visit Wen-rhy but then one of their droids broke down and they had to spend the money they were going to use to see their child to fix it. Wen-rhy understood, of course, but still missed them. Luke was going to let them use the holo-messanger tonight to celebrate New Republic Day but for now they had to meditate and focus on internal calmness. Din noticed that as well as being quite shy, they were also very nervous and fidgety.

Din also met Tal’illk, also 10. He was working in the small garden that was behind the food tent. It was more for herbs and things to season their food, since it wasn’t big enough to be self-substaining. Their food was mostly grain that Luke’s brother-in-law brought in once a month or so, along with meat that they caught in the surrounding woods. Tal’illk was a nice kid, very solid and well grounded. He could have been a pretty good mandolorian, if he had been a foundling.

Then Din checked up on Grogu, who was in the library with Sani. Sani was a very smart kid, much smarter than any other kid her age, but was also used to being called smart and now believed herself smarter than most adults too. The kind of smart that also turns you into a little bit of a jerk. Right now she was reading a book of Jedi teachings aloud to Grogu, who couldn’t read yet. But Grogu was bored and Sani kept having to kick his chair to wake him up.

That night, they had a stew with some fresh game that Luke caught that day. Din helped prepare the meat, and helped serve it. He took his meal afterwards, since Gorgu wanted him to stick around at the dinner table as everyone discussed everything they had learned that day. Sani wanted to go out and get the things to start building her first lightsaber, but Luke reminded her that she wasn’t supposed to do that till she came of age and that wouldn’t be for a while since she was still just 14. She didn’t care, and asked for special permission which Luke declined. Tion boasted that she and Tig were able to get a relay of 23 passes with the rock going and everyone congratulated them. That was another thing that the Jedis had that the Mandalorians didn’t, positive reinforcement. Back before he took the creed, when they were still training, no one ever congratulated them. A short and courteous good job if you came first in a competition, but nothing if you didn’t. Din wondered what it would be like if that was the case. He wondered if he would have been better off.

After dinner, Luke and Wen-rhy went to call their parents and Din ate his dinner in the cooking hut. Grogu was with him, and Din told him how proud of him he was. Grogu smiled bigger than Din ever smiled as a child, or even to this day, and Din knew that he was doing the right thing.

That night, again, he slept outside Grogu’s tent. Again, Luke offered to share his tent but again Din declined.

The next day proceeded much as the first. Din helped by hunting down some meat for dinner and asked Luke if he could install some traps around camp. If there were some traps that could be easily checked on and re-set then Luke could spend more time with the kids. Luke thought it was a great idea, and offered up whatever tools they could find in the armory. Din got some thin wire from his ship and tools from the armoury then set off into the woods west of camp where the children didn’t play much. He ended up bringing Tal’illk along with him, teaching him how to set a trap as long as where all the traps were and why they were there.

“Deciding where to set your traps is not as simple as it seems,” Din explained. “See, animals don’t see the forest floor the way we do. They are smaller and much lower to the ground so where the path is obvious for us might not be where the path is obvious for them. You have to try and think about it from their perspective, see where they would go and the path that they would take instead of placing them on the paths where you would walk.”

Din tried his best to explain his reasonings for why he put the traps where he put them. The soil, the trees, the bushes, etc. The first few traps Tal’illk listened intently. The next few he brought up points of his own that matched Din’s thinking. Din let him set the last one himself, and he chose a pretty good spot for it.

“Good,” Din nodded as Tal’illk set the finishing touches. Then he remembered yesterday. “That’s a really good placement on your first try,” Din encouraged him.

Tal’illk smiled. “Thanks Mr. Mandalorian.”

“Let’s head back to camp.” They walked back as Din explained more. “Remember where you left your traps. That’s probably the most important step. Animals usually come out around dawn and dusk, so check it every day after breakfast and you should be alright.”

When they got back to camp, everyone was having lightsaber practice.

“A Padawan’s journey to get the materials needed for a lightsaber is the first time they ever go out as a Jedi on their own. The month that they spend building their lightsaber is supposed to be them considering what kind of a Jedi they want to be. When they are done, there is a ceremony where they are declared officially Jedi. At the old academy there were plenty of old lightsaber that could be used for practice until they get to make their own but unfortunately, I do not have any lightsaber other than my own so instead we use stick to practice the forms and fighting techniques.” Luke shrugged. “I wish I had more so that I can show them what it’s really like. It feels different in your hand. The crystal inside it is almost alive, and in the heat of battle it’s like it’s vibrating with force and power. You can’t replicate something like that with a stick.” He sighed.

Din felt the weight of the darksaber. If he gave it to a kid and Luke supplied his own, the students could have a proper duel. They would have to go two at a time, but it was something. But Din wasn’t supposed to just give the darksaber away. And he also knew that if he showed it to Luke then he could identify it as belonging to the King of Mandalore and that would lead to a whole bunch of questions Din didn’t want to deal with. Din hadn’t been to Mandalore since receiving the darksaber. He could lie and say it was because he didn’t have a ship but in truth Din wasn’t planning on going there now even with the ship. It was a haunted planet, not one he intended to rule. He kept offering to yield to Bo-Katan but she wasn’t responding to his messages.

Instead of offering the darksaber, Din offered an idea. “Why don’t you follow the Mandalorian tradition of excess?”

Luke looked up. “What’s that?”

“Well, whenever a Mandalorian has new armor made, they always give the excess bits to the foundlings, to provide them with their first bits of armour before they can get their own. So, when Sani goes to get the materials for her lightsaber, she gets some extra and you can take the excess and make it into a lightsaber for the little ones to use.”

Luke smiled. “That’s a really good idea. It could be a new Jedi tradition.” He thanked Din, then went on to teach the lesson. Din took notes of the forms, as he was going to try them all later.


	5. Chapter 5

Everything was going as usual. That night, Din took his spot next to Grogu’s tent. He was just about to fall asleep when he heard it. The first few rain drops against his helmet. It was fine, it was just a light drizzle. Then the rain started to come down harder. But this was fine too. Sure, the sound of rain against his metal armor was a little annoying but his clothes were designed to not get wet and if they did get wet to dry quickly so it was fine. He shivered at the slight chill that was now in the air.

Luke noticed the rain too. At first the thought nothing of it, but them he looked out the window and saw the Mandalorian. He put on a rain-resistant overcoat, got a lantern and went out into the bad weather.

“Din, please,” he had to yell over the rain. “It’s absolutely pouring! Come inside, you can’t stay out here! You’ll rust!”

“Beskar doesn’t rust,” Din yelled back.

“Then you’ll catch a cold! Please, just come inside!” Din got up disgruntledly. He followed Luke into his tent. “You should hang up your wet clothes so they dry overnight,” Luke suggested as he did that himself. Luke observed as Din carefully and precisely too off every piece of armor, took off his outer layer, then put the armor back on. Luke got into the left side of the bed as Din hung up his cape. Then, Din crawled into the right side of bed and lay there. Luke looked at him a few minutes before realizing that he was actually trying to go to sleep.

“Umm, are you going to be sleeping in all of the armor?” Luke couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes.”

“Wouldn’t you rather take it off so you are more, I don’t know, comfortable?”

“I am most comfortable when I and impervious to almost all forms of attack,” Din replied.

Luke nodded, sliding under the comforter and getting comfy for the night.

“Shouldn’t you know that?” Din couldn’t help but say.

“What?” Luke didn’t understand to what he was referring to.

“You know that Mandalorians can’t take off their armour.”

“Well, I knew that you were forbidden from taking off your helmet,” Luke explained, “but not that the rest of it is also forbidden. I figured that you must occasionally take off the rest of your armour for sleeping and such? To relax?”

“We don’t,” Din corrected him. “Not for strangers, not even for other mandalorians. Well, if you were married you would, but other than that you only take of your armor to clean it in privacy.”

Luke nodded. “Well, thanks for correcting me.”

They stayed there in silence a moment. Luke wanted to ask more questions about Mandalorian clothing. He was very curious about Mandalorian culture. The books he had read, he realized, knew absolutely nothing about it. The histories were incredibly one sided, going into details about the strategies and tactics used by the Jedi with barely a word talking about the Mandalorian’s. It described in great detail the battles the Jedi won, but only barely mentioned the ones won by the Mandalorians and if they were mentioned it was always in the context of “this great Jedi general fought with nobility and dignity but was ultimately defeated at such and such hill.” Luke could see this, and wanted to know more about the Mandalorian history, hoping for a much fuller understanding. He wished that he could work up the nerve to ask Din these questions but every time he turned to actually speak to the Mandalorian, his stomach would summersault and he would lose his nerve.

Din wanted to speak to Luke. Not about anything in particular, which was odd. Din was a man of few words. He wasn’t rude or mean, but he kept to himself and didn’t speak unless strictly necessarily. It wasn’t because he was shy or self conscience, he was just wary of strangers. Mandalorians had to be. Talking too much to people before you knew that you could trust them could mean giving away a secret you didn’t mean to. So Din didn’t talk much, and didn’t want to much either. He didn’t understand everyone else’s need to constantly carry on conversations. But now he wanted nothing else than to talk to the man nest to him. He wanted to know about his day, about his life, about everything. Din tried to assure himself he was only wanting to figure out if Luke was trustworthy to leave Grogu with him but after what he had seen it was clear he was a competent instructor and caregiver, so why did Din still have this longing to fil the silence with conversation.

Luke silently sighed, resigned to the fact that the moment during which it wouldn’t have been weird if he had brought up the conversation they had just been having had well and truly passed. He could bring up a new topic of conversation but it had been a long day. Din probably just wanted to sleep and trying to get him to talk would be awkward and exhausting. Instead, Luke decided to just go to sleep. He turned onto his side and curled up.

Din felt Luke shift, trying to get comfortable to go to sleep. Din couldn’t sleep just yet. He heard the sound of Luke’s breathing become more steady, and felt his heartbeat slow as he drifted off the sleep. But Din didn’t sleep. He just lay there, listening to the sounds of Luke breathing. When he finally did drift off, he hardly noticed.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Din got up early. Before Luke, actually. So when Luke awoke, he was in an empty bed. For a while, he thought he and just dreamt all of last night, falling asleep next to Din. But then he saw Din, adjusting his cape in the mirror Luke had hanging up.

“Good morning,” Luke offered.

“Morning.” Din took his boots and sat at the foot of the bed as he put them on.

Luke wanted to say more, but didn’t know what to say. He was still very much asleep. He had a huge stretch and collapsed back on the bed. For some reason, Luke didn’t particularly feel like rising early. He felt like laying there, watching Din get dressed. But Din was already dressed. With a curt nod, he left. And Luke was alone. He got up with a sigh, and got dressed himself. He went out into the chilly morning and saw Din already waking the campers. The two had fallen into a sort of routine in their time together. As the kids woke up, they all came to the campfire for another part of their morning routine. Din light his flamethrower and started the fire. The kids all liked watching this part of the day. Luke knew that these kids would be telling all the other students about this and the next time Din came by, he would have many admirers. Hopefully he would come back.

Luke gathered the kids together and took them up to morning meditation. They walked south of the camp till they came to a ridge. That faces the morning sun. They all sat along it and meditated as the sun came up. Luke told them to focus on centering themselves to begin the day. But Luke’s mind kept wandering back to camp and to the Mandalorian who was waiting for them. He also kept thinking about his face. Luke tried not to think that way too often, he knew that Din wasn’t as cool as other mandalorians with people seeing his face. Luke seeing it was a fluke, and he should probably just forget it ever happened. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t stop thinking about it sometimes, and now was one of those times. He kept seeing those beautiful brown eyes whenever he closed his eyes.

Luke tried to shake off those memories, and focus on the day ahead of him. He would be welcoming home all his students. And saying goodbye to Din, but that’s fine. He would get to see his sister again, as she dropped off her son. Maybe if Din stuck around for long enough, he could meet her too. It would be nice for Din to see that he had a twin sister as cool as she was. Plus, Leia was trying to form a kind of galaxy-wide council to support all the outer-rim planets and the Mandalorians were supposed to have a representative on it. Maybe they could talk about what the Republic could do to better support the Mandalorians? Luke had resolved to ask Din if he could stay one more day.

When they got back to camp, however, Din was already ready to go. “I figured that the parents would be arriving to drop their kids off soon so I’m gonna go after breakfast.”

Luke was disappointed, but didn’t let it show. “If that’s what you think is best.” He considered still bringing up his sister, but decided against it. Din had clearly made up his mind.

Grogu ate his breakfast then walked with Din up to the edge of the clearing where they said goodbye. Luke couldn’t hear what was being said but saw the love and tenderness Din had for his kid. He saw how much Grogu felt for his father. Din hugged his kid, then turned, and disappeared into the woods. Grogu walked back towards Luke, and hugged his leg as they saw his ship fly over head. He was off and away.

Luke turned to Grogu. “Don’t worry. He’ll be back.”

Din was a planet and a half away when he realized that he never actually said goodbye to Luke. It’s ok, he tried to assure himself, you can do it the next time you go back. Because you will go back.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so I'm working on part 2. This will be mostly dinluke, but I will start to introduce the actual plot at the end. I'm probably still going to do it all at once, though. It was easier to edit and go back and rewrite something if I found it conflicted with a later bit of the story.


End file.
